Will Elon Musk make Twitter great again? As in, a fully-functional town square where people are free to speak their minds? Eccentric tech mogul Elon Musk acquired 9.2% of the company’s shares last week. He is also going to be sitting on the company’s board of directors. He’s already tweeted about having “high-minded ideas” for Twitter. Tweeting, “Twitter’s next board meeting is gonna be lit.” Musk also offered to buy 100% of Twitter at $54.20 per share, the “420” reference not lost on many.
Cannabis Freedom Will Make Twitter Great Again
This isn’t the first time Musk has referenced “420” in relation to stock prices. On August 7th 2018 Musk tweeted that he was “considering taking Tesla private at $420.” This tweet annoyed the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) which sued the billionaire. The agency said Musk’s use of “$420” was a cannabis reference meant to impress his girlfriend. (It’s worth noting that the SEC failed to prevent the corruption behind the 2008 financial crisis because, among many reasons, the employees spent hours watching online pornography.)
Elon Musk will make Twitter great again because he is a friend of cannabis. One of his most viral moments of the last few years has been his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience. The image of him sharing a joint is now sketched into the public consciousness. Twitter, like Facebook and Instagram, has strict rules about the promotion of cannabis. This hasn’t stopped Musk from tweeting about cannabis, however.
Selling weed literally went from major felony to essential business (open during pandemic) in much of America & yet many are still in prison. Doesn’t make sense, isn’t right.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1269163651958595584
Elon Musk is Right
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, cannabis arrests account for half of all drug arrests in the US. 8.2 million people were arrested for cannabis between 2001 and 2010. 88 percent were for simple possession.
And it’s not like legalization is a fix-all. While the MORE Act in the US does address expunging past records, nothing of the sort was part of Canada’s legalization package. In fact, punishments are harsher than they were before. Police have more resources to combat the legacy market. Meanwhile, former prohibitionists from cops to politicians are on the boards of Canada’s legal cannabis companies.
Elon Musk will make Twitter great again because he is a free speech absolutist. When social media platforms and search engines (including DuckDuckGo) were banning “Russian disinformation” over the Ukrainian invasion, Elon Musk refused to play ball. His StarLink internet service refused to ban Russian servers. After all, how can one disseminate what is misinformation without all the information available? This common-sense approach is increasing verboten in the supposed land of the free.
Musk Opposes Covid Tyranny
But this is par course for Elon Musk. In many ways, he is an old-school liberal and that’s part of why he can make Twitter great again.
As early as March 2020, he was critical of the covid-19 panic. He tweeted, “danger of panic still far exceeds danger of corona imo. If we over-allocate medical resources to corona, it will come at expense of treating other illnesses.” A statement now seen as plain and true as night and day.
When the Alameda County Sheriff ordered all non-essential businesses to shut down, Musk refused and kept his company Tesla open. He called the lockdowns “fascist” stating that: “frankly I would call it forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all their constitutional rights — my opinion — and erasing people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong, and not why people came to America or built this country.”
Musk sent out other tweets opposing mandatory lockdowns such as “FREE AMERICA NOW.” He also moved Tesla to Austin, Texas.
In January 2022, Musk tweeted “Canadian truckers rule”, in response to the Freedom Convoy opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions. He followed the tweet with “If you scare people enough, they will demand removal of freedom. This is the path to tyranny.
Musk also tweeted “If Canadian government is suppressing peaceful protests, that’s where fascism lies.” On February 17, Musk tweeted a meme comparing Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler. But the tweet was later deleted.
Like him or hate him, Elon Musk believes in the principle of free speech. For that reason, many believe he will overturn Twitter’s restrictions on cannabis promotion (and cryptocurrencies). If he succeeds in this, among other things, Elon Musk will truly make Twitter great again.